ESPANYOL

Barcelona: Espanyol midfielder Abraham Gonzalez scored shortly before halftime to earn his side a 1-0 home win over bottom-placed Cordoba in the Spanish league on Friday.
Gonzalez drove in a strike from the edge of the area after striker Felipe Caicedo had headed the ball back to him two minutes before...

Madrid: Forward Pablo Sarabia scored one goal and set up another to help Getafe beat Espanyol 2-1 in the Spanish league on Friday.
Getafe outplayed the visitors until the final minutes as Spain coach Vicente del Bosque watched from the stands at Alfonso Perez Coliseum.
Sarabia sprinted forward to volley home Alexis...

Madrid: Spanish football clubs Espanyol and Osasuna have hit back at press reports they are under investigation for fixing a league match in May last year.
At separate press conferences on Tuesday both clubs denied any wrongdoing.
Osasuna president Luis Sabalza said there is no evidence linking the club with match-fixing, adding...

Madrid: Espanyol secured a commanding lead in their King's Cup quarter-final tie against Sevilla when Felipe Caicedo, Sergio Garcia, with a penalty, and Lucas Vazquez scored in a 3-1 first-leg home win on Thursday.
In-form Ecuador forward Caicedo cracked a superb shot into the top corner in the 18th minute to...

Barcelona: Late substitute Felipe Caicedo scored twice to give Espanyol a 2-0 win over 10-man Valencia on Tuesday and a place in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
Espanyol advanced 3-2 on aggregate after losing the first leg 2-1 at Valencia.
Malaga also moved into the last eight, losing 3-2 to Levante on...

Barcelona: Gareth Bale scored with an unstoppable free kick to help 10-man Real Madrid end a two-game losing run with a 3-0 win over Espanyol and stay top of the Spanish league on Saturday.
James Rodriguez scored first after a pinpoint long pass from Bale was skillfully tapped back to him...

Spain: James Rodriguez scored first after a long pass from Bale was headed back to the Colombian by Cristiano Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 12th minute.
Bale made it 2-0 in the 28th when Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla could only watch as he rifled a left-foot free kick off...

Lionel Messi scored a hat trick to reach the 400-goal mark for Barcelona and spark his team's 5-1 comeback victory over Espanyol in Sunday's Catalan capital derby, keeping the winners in second place in the Spanish league.
Messi matched Cristiano Ronaldo's three-goal performance in Real Madrid's win the day before to...

Barcelona have been boosted by the successful return from injury of talismanic playmaker Andres Iniesta as they prepare to host city rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.
Iniesta played for the first time since damaging a calf muscle at the end of October in Wednesday's 4-0 King's Cup last-32, first...

Aritz Aduriz nodded the first goal and set up another as Athletic Bilbao beat Espanyol 3-1 to climb to ninth in La Liga on Friday. Bilbao were on top but needed some luck to take the lead in the 29th minute when Aduriz's header deflected off Christian Stuani and went...

Atletico Madrid brushed aside Espanyol 2-0 to extend their unbeaten home streak in the Spanish league to 24 games on Sunday, while Deportivo La Coruna beat Valencia 3-0 for its first defeat of the season.
Atletico limited Espanyol to one shot on goal and earned 12 corners to just one for...

Madrid: Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Javier Tebas on Tuesday said that in the hypothetical case of the region of Catalonia becoming independent from Spain, FC Barcelona and Espanyol would not be able to continuing playing football in La Liga.
Tebas' words add a new dimension to the ongoing debate over...

Valencia remained undefeated and took the lead of the Spanish league on goal difference by beating Cordoba 3-0 on Thursday.
Valencia's fourth win in five rounds lifted it to the top of the table ahead of Barcelona and Sevilla on goal difference.
Striker Paco Alcacer headed in Valencia's 22nd-minute opener. Left back...

Barcelona: Valencia eased by Espanyol 31 at home on Sunday to remain unbeaten in the Spanish league under new coach Nuno Espirito Santo and continue their turnaround during a drawnout sale of the club.
Sevilla also extended their unbeaten start to the league with a troublefree 20 win at home over...

Spain: Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid close their Spanish league season with a victory that was tempered by concerns over the health of Cristiano Ronaldo before the Champions League final.
Ronaldo was expected to play in the 31 win over Espanyol but came off during prematch warmups. The Portugal forward continues...

Espanyol coach Javier Aguirre will leave at the end of the season when his contract expires after an indifferent campaign in which Barcelona's second club flirted with relegation.
Winless since the end of March, Espanyol are 12th with one game left, six points above the drop zone in a crowded lower...

Almeria fought back for a 21 win at nineman Espanyol on Sunday to keep alive their hopes of staying in Spain's first division.
Espanyol went ahead at CornellaEl Prat Stadium when Christian Stuani headed in Sergio Garcia's cross in the 42nd minute.
But the game swung in Almeria's favor when Stuani was...

Barcelona: Carlos Vela skillfully chested down a long pass before firing in Real Sociedad's injury-time winner to snatch a dramatic 2-1 win at home over Espanyol in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Vela's 13th goal in league play allowed Sociedad to rise into provisional sixth place, and moved the Basque club...

Madrid: Sevilla kept up the pressure on Athletic Bilbao in the battle for Spain's fourth Champions League spot when Kevin Gameiro struck twice in a 4-1 win at home to mid-table Espanyol on Sunday.
The victory for fifth-placed Sevilla at a festive Sanchez Pizjuan trimmed the gap to Bilbao to three...

Spain: Lionel Messi converted a late penalty to give Barcelona a contentious 1-0 win at Espanyol on Saturday, provisionally lifting the defending champions to the top of the Spanish league standings.
Espanyol's physical style had kept Messi and the visitors in check until defender Javi Lopez handled in the area, and...

Spain: Espanyol eased to a 3-1 win at home over Elche in the Spanish league on Sunday, keeping the Barcelona-based club in the chase for a Europa League berth.
Forward Simao Sabrosa set up Espanyol's first two goals. David Lopez headed in Simao's corner to open the scoring two minutes in,...

Barcelona: Goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo saved a stoppage-time penalty to preserve Villarreal's 2-1 victory at Espanyol in the Spanish league on Monday.
Asenjo dove correctly to his right to deny Sergio Garcia's spot kick after Villarreal defender Gabriel Armando handled inside the area.
Villarreal led 2-0 by the 50th minute at Cornella El-Prat...

Spain: Hector Moreno's late goal gave 10man Espanyol a 10 win at home over Granada in the Spanish league on Friday, as the Barcelonabased side ended a fourgame winless run.
Granada goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez saved Moreno's first two headers from corner kicks taken by Sergio Garcia, but the defender beat him...

Madrid: Real Madrid set up a King's Cup semifinal against holders Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao when they beat Espanyol 10 in their quarterfinal, second leg on Tuesday for a 20 aggregate success.
Real lost 21 to Atletico at their own Bernabeu stadium in last year's final and will be keen...

Madrid: The Copa del Rey is back this week, and Barcelona will travel to Levante for the second time in three days.
The Spanish league leaders were held to a 11 draw at Levante on Sunday, but now play in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
Also, Real Madrid will visit Espanyol for...

Barcelona: Real Madrid continued their impressive start to the new year with Karim Benzema giving them a 10 victory in the King's Cup quarterfinal firstleg tie away to Espanyol on Tuesday.
Benzema's 25thminute goal meant Real have come out on top in each of their six games since Christmas, a burst...

Madrid: With Cristiano Ronaldo missing his scoring touch, Real Madrid needed defender Pepe to score in the second half to secure a 10 victory at Espanyol on Sunday to pull within three points of the Spanish league coleaders.
Pepe was left unmarked to head in Luka Modric's corner kick in the...

Barcelona: Almeria settled for a 00 draw at home against Espanyol on Sunday after their coach was ejected from the dugouts and Jose "Verza" Garcia missed a penalty he had to repeat in the first half.
The result kept Almeria near the bottom of the Spanish league while Espanyol stayed in...

Madrid: Barcelona extended their nearperfect start to the season when Alexis Sanchez tapped in at the far post from Neymar's clever assist to secure a 10 win at home to city rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Friday.
The biggest surprise of the night was that Barca's World Player of the...

Spain: Villarreal used a quick goal and Ruben "Cani" Gracia's playmaking to earn a hardfought 21 win at home over Espanyol on Thursday, keeping the promoted side undefeated through six rounds in the Spanish league.
Villarreal stayed in fourth place and two points behind thirdplace Real Madrid. Leader Barcelona and Atletico...